Saturday, 16 July 2011

Omega Speedmaster Professional, 2007

When Omega heard in 1965 that NASA was testing their watch for possible use by its astronauts, it added the word "PROFESSIONAL" to the dial of its Speedmasters.

And once the Omega Speedmaster landed on the moon back in July, 1969, it was forever known as the Moonwatch.

Most modern watches have a beat rate of 28,800 bph (beats per hour). Among other reasons, this means that you get a nice smooth sweep motion of the second hand around the dial. The Speedmaster Professional has a beat rate of 21,000 bph which makes for a slightly jerky, staccato motion of the second hand, but it's barely noticeable, except to the trained eye.

The Speedmaster shown above with a hand-wound pocket watch from around 1914. Here's a view of the pocket watch movement;

This one is a 15 Jewel arrangement with minimal decoration, but you can still get an idea of the intricate nature of these things.

@ Adwoa, thanks for the kind words. It's an honour to have you here. Your posts on the Groma Kolibri look-alike (Junior) helped inspire me to chase up a Kolibri of my own...that I probably paid too much for.P.S.- don't let your husband read my watch posts too carefully because I'm sure he'll find discrepancies in them. I've been selling watches for over ten years, but a watchmaker will really know his way around a watch movement.BTW, nice post on the Pelikan 120. I've been meaning to snap one up on eBay, but I've got my sights set on a M600 at the moment. Fountain pens are another weakness of mine.

@ Rob, yes, it's a lot of fun setting up the photos. I had some bits of broken glass to put next to the typecast about watch crystals, but I must have deleted it without realising. Ahh well...

@ I dream lo-tech, yep, I have a helluva lot more watches than typewriters, but I'm posting the typecasts about them slowly so that I don't run out of ideas too fast.

Thanks for responding. It's hard to get a good deal on a Kolibri especially on eBay, as everyone else is looking for one too! After my initial disappointment with the Junior, I now have a few working Kolibris that I shall be writing up soon on the blog. I liked the posts you wrote on yours; I still haven't seen that movie yet but will look for it!

As for fountain pens - I was just thinking to myself that it's been a while since I featured any. So many still to write about - like with your watches, I'm pacing myself so I don't run out of typecast ideas (it's been known to happen!).